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April 2016 American Chemistry Council – Consumers
Can Be Confident In the Safety of Polystyrene
Foodservice Packaging
link : https://www.americanchemistry.com/Media/PressReleasesTranscripts/ACC-news-releases/Consumers-Can-Be-Confident-In-the-Safety-of-Polystyrene-Foodservice-Packaging.html
Styrene Is Not Polystyrene: California Proposition
65 Listing of Styrene Does Not Affect Polystyrene
Safety Assessments
WASHINGTON (April 22, 2016) -
The California Office of Environmental Health Hazard
Assessment (OEHHA) has added styrene to its
Proposition 65 list, pursuant to the Safe
Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act of 1986.
Styrene is a liquid substance used to make
polystyrene, an inert plastic used to make many
consumer products. There should be no confusion
between styrene and polystyrene; these are two
different materials. The American Chemistry Council
(ACC) issued the following statement that highlights
the differences between the two materials and the
safety of polystyrene foodservice packaging. The
statement can be attributed to Mike Levy, senior
director for ACC's Plastics Foodservice Packaging
Group:
"Consumers can be confident that California's
Proposition 65 action on styrene does not affect the
decades'-long safety assessments of polystyrene
packaging used for foodservice. For more than 50
years, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
has determined that
polystyrene is safe for use in foodservice packaging
, and regulatory bodies around the world agree,
including the
European Commission/European Food Safety Authority
.
"There are important and obvious differences between
styrene and polystyrene. Styrene is a liquid, and
polystyrene is an inert solid plastic. They are
fundamentally unalike and display distinctly
different properties. Styrene is a raw material used
to create high-performance plastics, car tires,
carpet backing, and reinforced fiberglass
composites, such as those used in bathtubs,
automobile body panels and wind turbines. Once these
products are manufactured, they are inert.
"Officials in California said their decision to add
styrene to the Prop 65 list was based on styrene's
listing in the U.S. National Toxicology Program's (NTP)
12th Report on Carcinogens in 2011. California
officials determined that NTP's listing merits a
Prop 65 listing. NTP does not question the safety of
polystyrene foodservice packaging. As the NTP
Director was widely quoted, "In finished products,
certainly styrene is not an issue."
"Polystyrene is an FDA-approved and hygienic
material of choice for foodservice packaging to
serve foods in schools, hospitals, restaurants, food
carts and sports stadiums. Its inherent insulation
properties maintain food temperatures and help keep
food fresh, hot or cold and ready-to-eat.
Polystyrene is also used in a variety of other
everyday consumer products, such as cushioning for
shipping delicate electronics, energy saving
insulation, kitchen appliances, smoke detectors and
toys."
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